Vigilante Justice
by tact-and-impulse
Summary: Criminals lurk in the slums, but fortunately, there are heroes...and their sidekicks. Hero AU, written for Ruroken Week 2016. New chapter: The formation of a new partnership, during Halloween.
1. The Boss and Weasel Girl

**Author's Note: For Ruroken Week 2016, I wrote seven different AUs. I'll be releasing each one over the next few weeks. Depending on the responses/reviews, I'll decide which ones to continue and prioritize. (This does not mean I'll abandon the rest, just that they'll be tackled later.) Thanks in advance for reading!**

* * *

On the morning of Takeda Kanryuu's trial, an armored car was locked away in the secret basement of the Aoiya headquarters.

Aoshi pocketed the keys, shuffling towards the elevator. After two long years, he finally had his revenge on the man who gunned down his four trusted advisors. The bittersweet verdict had been a lifetime sentence with no parole.

He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the topmost floor. He winced a little at the motion. Yesterday, his shoulder had been injured in a fight, and going to a hospital would have meant revealing his secret.

For the past months, he had spent his nights infiltrating the underground world of opium trade.

He should have stopped once Takeda was arrested, but there were more groups that would gladly continue the ugly cycle of crime. So, he didn't stop, driving his armored car through the slums for both protection and intimidation. Now that Takeda was behind bars, he had to divorce himself from that way of life. The first step was eliminating his transportation, regardless of how secure he felt when driving it.

The elevator gave a disruptive jolt and stopped too early. He frowned, as the doors slid apart and one person walked in to stand beside him.

Unfortunately, he knew this person all too well. She was wearing a sailor suit uniform, and her backpack was slung over her shoulder. Smacking gum between her lips, she smoothed her bangs out of her eyes, drawing attention to her turquoise nails. She looked like an innocent high school student.

She was also the reason why his shoulder ached.

Her braid swung forward as she beamed at him. "You're Shinomori Aoshi."

"…yes."

"Great! Can I talk to you real quick? Like, in your office?"

"I have no interest in what you're selling." He said automatically.

"Hey, I'm not selling anything. I even called to make sure it's okay, I even have a card to prove it. I'll be fast, so don't worry." At this, she grabbed his arm. Pain shot up to his shoulder and he gritted his teeth.

"Let go of me and I'll give you five minutes."

"Oh, sorry!" She released him but the triumphant smile on her face didn't seem apologetic.

He ignored the curious looks of his workers as they walked into his office. He closed the door and sat at his desk, while she gawked at the interior. He didn't understand her fascination; it was only a windowless room with paintings and furniture he didn't choose.

"Wow, this is so nice. But I guess I should have expected this. You're The Boss, aren't you?"

He stiffened for a moment, before pointing to the name plate in front of him. The gold was etched in 'Shinomori Aoshi, CEO'. "Ah, so you can read. If you have any questions, keep it short. I have a meeting in thirty minutes."

"Don't play dumb! It's me, Makimachi Misao!" She lowered her voice. "Also known as, Weasel Girl. And I wasn't referring to your day job, if you know what I mean."

"I do not."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. We can do this the hard way." In the next second, she upended her backpack and spilled the contents on his desk. He stared in dismay at a rolled up newspaper, a boomerang, a brown shirt, and…a plastic bag containing the broken hilt of his kodachi. "You're lucky that I picked this up. It was a piece of cake to track down the manufacturer and who commissioned it."

Damn it.

He slowly stood. "What is it that you want? Money?" Of course, he had no intention of paying her off, but cash was good bait for someone like her. It would occupy her until he could investigate her further.

"Money would be nice." She conceded. "But I'd rather be your sidekick!"

He blinked. "What?"

"I helped you out last night! Remember that distraction I did?"

"And I was injured because of that distraction." He bit out, remembering the sudden smoke grenade that she had tossed upon her arrival. She had popped up in a weasel hoodie, and while she was quite agile, he had no desire to work with anyone else.

"Okay, I'm sorry about that, but if we coordinate, we'd be awesome together. So, what do you say?"

"Absolutely not."

"I've practiced martial arts since I was little and I know the area, so it's not like you have to babysit me."

"No."

"Come on, let me fight!" She picked up the newspaper and tapped at the front page. A black and white picture showed three blurry figures. One was carrying the masked hero Shinai, while the smallest appeared to be yelling something. "Look, Shinai has _two_ sidekicks."

"Good for her."

"One of them is younger than me! He's probably not even in middle school!"

"That's irrelevant."

She straightened, her eyes narrowing. "You think I'm just a kid, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. You don't know the nature of crime, so go home and forget about it."

"How can I, when my friends live right in the middle of a turf war?"

"Then, you should know how bad it is."

"But my point is, it's not everyone in the slum." She said. "There are families out there; they're innocent. They don't need to live in fear of dealers giving their kids opium and of gunfire at every hour, just because the cartels are fighting. When The Boss showed up, it gave me and my friends some peace for once. I want to guard that peace, but I don't have enough presence for that. Maybe, I really don't know what I'm getting into, and what I'm telling you is that I'm okay with that. I'll learn and do whatever I can. So, please let me be your sidekick."

An hour ago, he would have dismissed her and said he was finished. Nevertheless, he didn't choose that life for appreciation. He even enjoyed it. He had found purpose in fighting criminals, while she had found purpose in keeping the area safe. Perhaps, she was still too innocent and didn't understand that her life would be at risk, but her conviction made up for her inexperience.

He sighed. "I leave here at ten p.m."

"Alright!" She jumped into the air, her braid flying. The smile on her face was so, so bright.

Silently, he decided that he had to drive the armored car. After all, he'd need to protect her as much as possible.


	2. Shinai and Samurai X

**Author's Note: I was thinking of doing something short and sweet for Halloween, so I might as well revisit this AU, because disguises. This takes place before the previous chapter.**

* * *

It was close to midnight, and she was scouting the second night of a cosplay festival with a former assassin. They were huddled together on a rooftop, looking over the lit streets, and her gaze slid towards him. His red hair was in a low ponytail, draped over a worn magenta sweatshirt, but it didn't quite cover the cross-shaped scar on his cheek. His expression was serious, and she wondered if that was how he looked before his missions in the past. He noticed her staring, and his violet eyes became touched with concern.

"Are you alright, Kaoru-dono?"

She startled. "I'm fine."

"And your arm?"

"Better. There hasn't been any bleeding since this morning, and the painkillers have kicked in." She fixed the dark blue half mask over her eyes. "What about you? You took most of the fall, didn't you?"

Yesterday, he had saved her. Her dojo had been vandalized for weeks, and she had finally chased down the right perpetrator. He was a big man, but that made him easy to find, despite the crowds for the cosplay festival. In a cheap set of gi and hakama, she had confronted him under a bridge. However, it was dark for a fight, and she had underestimated his skill with a sword. She had been knocked down, when Kenshin had hurtled down from the bridge to tackle her away. The fight would have continued, if it weren't for a passing patrol that forced the vandal to run away. She had to retreat as well, because of her injury, and Kenshin helped her home.

"This one has survived worse." He gave a carefree grin.

"I guess you're right." _You were the one they called Hitokiri Battousai, after all_. She thought. When they returned to the dojo, there were more thugs tearing down the sign in the name of the assassin. That was when her new acquaintance had demonstrated proof of his identity. When she was hunting for Battousai look-alikes earlier that evening, he had played innocent, with his sakabato and insistent denial of being the infamous killer. But when the thugs charged, he had moved to protect her. "Thank you again, for helping me."

"It was the least this one could do."

After that, she offered that he stay at her place, until he adjusted to Tokyo life. He had protested, citing his past, but she said she didn't care. She meant it. She was accepting the kind, bumbling wanderer into her home, and that was what mattered. He finally relented at that, but left early for his work.

"There." Kenshin pointed down the street, to a large figure keeping to the shadows. "The build is similar."

"Yeah, I agree." Her hand fell to the polished shinai at her waist. "The way he walks is like the vandal too. We should tail him then."

As they headed down the fire escape, she remembered what transpired this morning.

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me." Kaoru stared in dismay. The scar had been covered up by a square of gauze, but she still recognized the man sweeping in front of her. "This was your job?"

"This one didn't realize this would be the case." He answered. "But with this one's background, not many opportunities are available. Cleaning a high school is decent work."

"It is, but it's _my_ high school!" She hissed, suddenly feeling self-conscious about her sailor suit uniform. Kenshin's red hair was mostly hidden under his cap, and he lowered it.

"We will have to keep this a secret."

"You don't have to tell me that." School hadn't started yet, and the hallways were empty, but she felt hyper aware of her surroundings.

"After classes are over, are you going to search for the vandal again?"

"I have to. It's my dojo."

"Then, this one will go with you." At her indignant expression, he asked. "How is your arm?"

She scowled. "Fine." He didn't seem convinced, and she planted her other hand on her hip. "You can come along, but you can't stop me. I've finally seen who he is, and I can't pass up this chance."

"This one won't stop you." He smiled. "This one will be waiting outside, at the end of the day."

"Alright." She paused. "You look like you want to say something else."

"Well, er, it's not worth mentioning."

"I won't be bothered by it. Go on, tell me."

"Just now, this one almost didn't recognize you, in a skirt and blouse."

Her face reddened, and she tapped her fist against his head, before taking off. "I'll leave without you, if I don't see you when the bell rings!"

* * *

Shouts jolted Kaoru out of the embarrassing memory, and she jumped off the last step of the fire escape. "What's happening?"

"Some drunk delinquents started a brawl by the food stands." He informed her, with an edge to his voice.

They were heckling the stall managers. One took a swing at an elderly man, and some women were being cornered as their setup was dismantled. The rowdy delinquents cheered as they stomped on wooden boards and turned over trays. After that, she only registered sprinting to the ruckus and thrusting her shinai forward. In the back of her mind, she knew that Kenshin was behind her, fighting in his own restrained way, but she was focused on her strikes and swings. She moved faster than her intoxicated opponents, and they crashed to the asphalt without much effort on her part. When the last delinquent had been subdued, her ponytail was subtly tugged.

"You've opened your wound again." Kenshin gently said, but they were abruptly separated by the grateful stall managers, who eagerly crowded around them.

"Thank you, you two. We've called the police as well."

"What's your name?"

"And what's that thing called again?" A hand pointed to her weapon.

"Shinai-" She managed to answer the last question, before Kenshin literally swept her off her feet and carried her away from the scene. As they fled, belated police sirens wailed in the distance.

"Someone noticed this one's scar." He told her. "It was only a child, who was interested in the sakabato, but it was best to leave."

She cradled her arm, grimacing at the small bloodstain on her sleeve. "Still, I don't regret fighting to protect them."

"This one thought you would say that."

"Do you disagree?"

"No. In fact, it's pleasing to hear."

She was too flustered to reply to that, but she let him apply a clean bandage on her arm.

* * *

The next morning, Kenshin brought in the newspaper, smiling as he showed her a small article. The headline praised two local heroes, for defusing a fight during the Halloween celebration.

"Shinai and Samurai X." She groaned at the nicknames they had been given. "Well, at least they didn't find out who we were. But we didn't even get to catch the guy who's been vandalizing the dojo!"

"It's alright." He reassured her. "The heroes can make another appearance, after Shinai's wound heals."

"Geez, that's not funny." But then again, she did like the sound of being a hero. "In the meantime, Shinai's sidekick will have to do the housework for her."

"Oro!"


End file.
